CHAPTER XIV 



A CONSERVATION SKETCH 



In several of the previous chapters we have en- 

 deavored to make plain the enormous economic 

 value of wild birds to mankind : their bearing upon 

 agriculture, their production of vast quantities of 

 fertilizer, the commercial status of their feathers, 

 and the value of their flesh as food. r 



The sum total of the actual cash value of bird 

 life to humanity is staggering in its magnitude. 

 Each land bird in the United States, if it has a 

 life span of five years, has an estimated potential 

 worth of seventy ^five cents to the farmer; and 

 there are, at a low figure, four billion such birds 

 native to the United States. Some hawks and 

 owls alone may be valued at seventy-five dollars 

 apiece. In Peru the Government considers its 

 guano birds as worth fifteen dollars each. The 

 annual income of thousands of people in Iceland 

 depends almost entirely upon the products of the 

 eider-duck. Ostriches yearly bring about ten 

 million dollars to the Boer farmers of South 

 Africa. Thousands of game-birds are placed on 

 the market in Europe during the proper season; 



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